Panschwitz-Kuckau Things to Do

If you have the time then go for a walk in the park right south of the abbey grounds. This park is named "Lippe Park" after the Sorbian word for linden tree = Lipa. And right, you'll see many beautiful old linden trees in the Lippe Park, which is landscaped like an English park. The park stretches along both sides of the creek Klosterwasser in a...

The garden of the abbey was severely damaged by a flood in 1991 and then reconstructed and turned into a sort of botanical garden - the goal is to teach/educate the visitor. Themes are herbs, fruit, veggies, flowers, all sorts of cultural plants. The focus is on ecology (organic food!), but also religion (biblical plants e.g.)It is a very beautiful...

Since 1999 the abbey has a small treasure museum. In 2002 another four rooms were turned into exhibit rooms. Now they have about 150 excellent works of art from the 13th to 19th century on display. They are mostly religious pieces, but a small part of the museum is also on the history and daily life of the people and villages that belonged to the...

Panschwitz-Kuckau Restaurants

Of course there is a restaurant on the abbey grounds, it is right next to the main gate (turn left after coming in) in the so called Bernhard house, named after Bernhard von Clairvaux. Until 1997 it provided accommodation for guests of the abbey, now it is home of the treasure museum (upstairs) while the restaurant Klosterstübel occupies the ground...

Kloster St. Marienstern is a charming complex and their restaurant is a vaulted affair from what I gather on their website. I've been in similar places and I'm sure it's an atmospheric place for a meal but on the day we visited it was a glorious sunny day and we took full advantage of their even more charming outside dining area. We lucked out with...

Panschwitz-Kuckau Transportation

If you really *must* drive, then you will probably use the A4 motorway Dresden - Görlitz. Take exit "Uhyst a. T." or "Burkau" and drive from either in direction Kamenz. It's only a few km on the minor roads, a nice drive through lovely landscape with rolling hills, very rural.Leave the car either on the parking at the road in direction Bautzen,...

Getting to Panschwitz-Kuckau and the abbey by public transportation is pretty easy on weekdays/school days (about hourly service) - not so on weekends/school holidays. There is a bus # 102 that runs between Kamenz and Bautzen and stops in the village. From the bus stop it is a five minutes walk down the street to the abbey.Both Kamenz and Bautzen...

Kloster St. Marienstern is not the easiest place to get to and to visit this interesting area it is best to drive. Thankfully my wife's family was happy to take us there once I discovered there was a "monastic brewery" in their native Saxony. It is in the Sorbian region of northeastern Saxony near the Polish border. There is still a strong Slavic...

Panschwitz-Kuckau Shopping

The nuns run a bakery with a shop. And what a bakery! Their products are totally delicious, best I've every had. Organic stuff, too. From whole grain bread over yummy cakes to cookies, everything is of high quality, delicious, and inexpensive. A visit to the abbey is incomplete without buying something at the bakery.

Side note: Many of the employees in the bakery are mentally/physically ill people who live on the abbey grounds, the nuns have a home for them.

Another side note: In early 2013 the bakery closed (temporarily) because two of the bakers got sick. They are trying to hire stand-in staff, but it's not that easy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

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Budget Travel

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Panschwitz-Kuckau Local Customs

When visiting this region please keep in mind that this is where the Sorbs, the slavic minority in Germany, live. The region around the abbey St. Marienstern is predominantly catholic, another minority in Saxony.The Sorbs are an officially recognised minority, their culture including use of language in daily life are constitutionally guaranteed....

One of the sons of the village, Jakub Bart (1856 - 1909, Ćišinski is a pseudonym and means "the quiet") became a catholic priest and one of the leading writers in Sorbian language. He is best known for his sonnets, ballads and poems. He was forced to spend many years outside the Sorbian region (Dresden, Chemnitz) but fought for the rights of...

Panschwitz-Kuckau Off The Beaten Path

The village Panschwitz-Kuckau itself doesn't have any outstanding sights beside the abbey, but if you have a little time to kill you might as well wander around and have a look at everyday life in rural Germany. What surprised me was that basically every other house had a religious figure, a crucifixus, a madonna or something like that either in the garden or right on the facade of the house. I knew this is a catholic region but that was ... well, quite much. I think the reason could be that the people living here are a minority in two ways: Catholics in predominantly Ev.-Lutheran Saxony, and Sorbs, slavics among Germans.

A pleasant stroll is along the creek named "Klosterwasser", you'll see nicely maintained houses and gardens. There are a couple of restaurants, also a bakery, so if you get hungry there's always a place to go.

Related to:

Religious Travel

Architecture

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Panschwitz-Kuckau Favorites

The reason to visit Panschwitz-Kuckau is the Cistercian Abbey St. Marienstern. Whether you're a pilgrim, architecture/art enthusiast or an average tourist, you'll be rewarded.The abbey was founded in 1948 by Bernhard and Heinrich von Kamenz (from the neighbouring town Kamenz). Bernhard von Kamenz was a powerful and wealthy man, advisor of the duke...

The St. Marienstern Klosterbräu Dunkles arrived in its own namesake glass and looked the part-a deep tawny brown with rocky tan head. Its malty aroma foreshadowed a malty palate that dried somewhat but not enough to avoid a cloying finish. The Klosterbräu Spezial didn't fare any better, a particularly sweetish brew considering the area's more...

Kloster St. Marienstern was a bit more remote than I might have liked it to be, tucked on the Polish border far removed from the Erzgebirge region my wife's family hailed from. Thankfully, they love to keep their beer-obsessed son-in-law happy and with a chance to compete against the beery monasteries of Bavaria at their door, they were more than...